Savvy Shopper: Summer is the perfect time to save money on fuel economy

With plenty of sun and daylight, summer has a lot to recommend it. However, as wonderful as this time of year is, even silver linings can have dark clouds. As one example, all the people going on summer vacation strains our fuel supply and causes the cost of gas to peak. With prices on the rise, now is a great time to revisit the topic of fuel economy. Whether you are going out of town or staying put, your wallet will thank you:

■ Loyalty discounts: Wal-Mart and Flying J are two stores in Lubbock that offer loyalty discounts on fuel. Flying J ‘s “My Rewards” program offers fuel discounts for RV owners of 2 cents per gallon and up. For more information, go to the website http://myrewards.pilotflyingj.com/faq.aspx#84. While Wal-Mart typically offers a 3-cent-per-gallon discount on gas that is bought with one of its gift cards, an incentive of 10 cents per gallon is available until July 7.

■ Credit cards: If you have a problem with credit, please ignore this section. Otherwise, there are credit cards that rebate up to 5 percent of your gas costs. In my case, I use a card that pays me back 3 percent. Some Internet sites that give more details include http://www.creditcards.org/gas?lp=1 and http://www.creditcards.com/gas-cards.php. As an added point, stay on the lookout for enrollment bonuses as it is very common for gasoline credit cards like Chevron, Phillips and Conoco to offer them. For example, a common inducement is to offer a substantial fuel discount for the first three months of card membership.

■ Trip routing: When there are a lot of errands to run, finding the most efficient path can be a challenge. Although common sense can go a long way, the difficulty grows rapidly as the number of stops increases. While some might suggest mapping your trip online, there is no way to know the shortest route without trying every possible combination of stops. Who has time for that? Fortunately, Mapquest Route Planner (http://www.mapquest.com/routeplanner) is a quick and easy tool to determine the most efficient route. When you enter your stops, Route Planner will resequence them as necessary to find the quickest and shortest trip in one step.

■ Clean out the trunk: Many people have an extra 100 pounds sitting in their trunk doing nothing. By emptying the car of excess weight, an efficiency gain of 1-2 percent is possible.

■ Stop idling: At one time or another, you have probably heard that it takes more fuel to start a car than to keep it in idle. By this logic (or lack thereof), a car shouldn’t even come with an ignition. The cases where this is true are so rare that you are better off shutting your car down any time you park.

■ Proper tire inflation: Keep tires properly inflated. In addition to increased tire life, the average driver can improve fuel economy by 3.3 percent by keeping tires at the proper pressure. In many cases, you can look up your recommended pressure on the driver’s side door. If that doesn’t work, the car owner’s manual will have it. When filling your tires with air, use a pressure gage. If you use your eyeball, you will not fill your tire to the proper pressure. As they are much easier to use and more accurate, I strongly recommend a digital tire gage for this task. After using one for the first time, it was so easy and accurate that I was immediately sold. I will never go back to conventional.

■ Clean air filter: To keep your car running at its best and maximize power, make sure you use a clean air filter for your motor’s intake.

■ Cruise control: If your car has cruise control, use it as much as possible. In flat terrain like Lubbock, using this feature will significantly improve your fuel economy.

Hopefully, the suggestions in this article will help you save money at home or away. Of course, there are many ways to save on fuel and we at the Savvy Shopper would love to hear your ideas.

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SEAN FIELDS IS THE A-J’S SAVVY SHOPPER. READ HIS COLUMNS SUNDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS.